Generation and the propensity of long career interruptions due to childcare under different family policy regimes: A multilevel approach

Abstract

This article analyses the generation gap in the duration of long-term career interruptions due to childcare among mothers of two children, and how the differences are moderated by a country’s predominant family policy regime. The outcomes of the multilevel analysis reveal that mothers born after 1960 have significantly lower odds of interrupting their career for longer than 10 years compared with older women. A country’s predominant family policy model plays a significant role in explaining the propensity of long career breaks. Mothers from countries with post-socialist, Southern European and pro-egalitarian models exhibit lower odds of having long-term career interruptions than those in pro-traditionalist countries. Differences between generations are moderated by countries’ family policy models. Among younger generations, the propensity to take long career breaks is lower in post-socialist and non-interventionist regimes than in countries with a pro-traditionalist family policy legacy.